Salon des Refusés

Salon des Refusés
Name	Salon des Refusés
Location	Paris
Date	1863
Type	Art exhibition
Notable	Édouard Manet; Gustave Courbet; James McNeill Whistler; Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier

Salon des Refusés The Salon des Refusés was a Parisian exhibition designated for works rejected by the official Salon juries, first convened by decree of Emperor Napoleon III in 1863. It provided an alternative venue that juxtaposed contested paintings alongside contemporaneous displays at the Palais des Champs-Élysées and the Musée du Louvre, provoking debate among critics from publications such as Le Figaro and L'Illustration. The event catalyzed broader discussions involving figures associated with École des Beaux-Arts, patrons like Alphonse de Lamartine, and collectors linked to the emerging market around dealers including Paul Durand-Ruel.

Origin and Historical Context

The concept arose amid tensions between the jury-led Académie des Beaux-Arts establishment and artists influenced by currents tied to Realism, Romanticism, and nascent Impressionism. Rejection by the Salon jury—composed of academicians connected to institutions like the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and salons overseen by ministers in the cabinet of Eugène Rouher—led to petitions referencing precedents such as the salons hosted during the reign of Charles X of France and controversies echoing the trials of artists like Géricault and Théodore Géricault. Critics and writers including Émile Zola, Charles Baudelaire, Théophile Gautier, and Gustave Flaubert weighed in, while patrons resembling Baron Haussmann and collectors tied to Jules Ferry-era institutions shaped public access.

The 1863 Salon des Refusés

Ordered by Napoleon III and announced by Minister of State Count Émilien de Nieuwerkerke after protests led by artists such as Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet, the 1863 exhibition displayed works rejected by the official jury of the Salon. Key submissions included paintings that had been turned away alongside pieces from painters connected to studios of Paul Delaroche, Thomas Couture, and ateliers influenced by Ingres. Critics from periodicals like Le Charivari and commentators such as John Ruskin attended; politicians including Adolphe Thiers and cultural administrators from the Préfecture de la Seine monitored reactions. The public gathered near venues associated with Avenue de l'Opéra and the Jardin des Tuileries to view the contested canvases.

Subsequent Exhibitions and Revivals

After 1863, repeat iterations appeared irregularly as successive governments and cultural authorities in Third French Republic administrations debated exhibition policy; later displays and revivals involved organizers connected to galleries like Durand-Ruel and institutions such as the Musée d'Orsay. International echoes and similarly named showcases appeared in cities linked to the careers of participating artists: London salons frequented by James McNeill Whistler and exhibitions in New York City where dealers like William Wagner and collectors such as Samuel Putnam Avery promoted rejected or avant-garde works. Later twentieth-century revivals referenced by critics in The Times and curators at museums like the Museum of Modern Art invoked the 1863 precedent.

Artistic Impact and Reception

The exhibition intensified debates among defenders of academic traditions—figures like Jean-Léon Gérôme and Alexandre Cabanel—and proponents of innovation including Édouard Manet, Gustave Courbet, and later Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Commentators such as Émile Zola and Charles Baudelaire framed the event in relation to literary movements around Symbolism and the writings of Stendhal, while critics from publications like The Athenaeum and Le Monde Illustré traced implications for museums such as the Louvre and the role of patrons like Théophile Gautier in shaping taste. The Salon des Refusés challenged juristic authority tied to the Académie des Beaux-Arts and influenced exhibition practices at venues including the Salon des Indépendants and later federations organizing the Armory Show.

Notable Works and Artists Exhibited

Prominent artists whose rejected works or contested reputations intersected with the Salon des Refusés phenomenon include Édouard Manet, Gustave Courbet, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, James McNeill Whistler, Paul Cézanne, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jean-François Millet, Alfred Sisley, Honoré Daumier, Jules Bastien-Lepage, Édouard Detaille, Félix Ziem, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Alexandre Cabanel, Thomas Couture, Paul Delaroche, Eugène Delacroix, Théodore Rousseau, Gustave Moreau, James Tissot, John Everett Millais, Ford Madox Brown, Walter Sickert, Marie Bracquemond, Berthe Morisot, Suzanne Valadon, Émile Zola, Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Charles Baudelaire, Théophile Gautier, John Ruskin, Paul Durand-Ruel, Ambroise Vollard, Durand-Ruel patrons, Samuel Putnam Avery, William Morris, Oscar Wilde, and collectors like Pablo Picasso who later acquired works by artists originally marginalized. Notable canvases associated by critics with the 1863 controversy include paintings by Édouard Manet and Gustave Courbet that prompted sustained critical engagement.

Legacy and Influence on Modern Art Movements

The Salon des Refusés is widely regarded as a pivotal moment leading to the institutional diversification of exhibitions that enabled movements such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, Modernism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism to find alternative platforms. Its challenge to the Académie des Beaux-Arts system influenced organizers behind the Salon des Indépendants, the Société des Artistes Indépendants, the Armory Show, and curators at museums including the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Gallery, and Musée d'Orsay. Critics such as Clement Greenberg later situated its importance in narratives linking nineteenth-century controversies to twentieth-century debates involving Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol. The Salon des Refusés remains a reference point in scholarship at universities like Sorbonne University and institutions such as the Courtauld Institute of Art for understanding the emergence of alternative exhibition models and market networks sustained by dealers like Paul Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard.

Category:Art exhibitions in Paris